The President of the French Republic has requested Mr Jean-Yves Le Drian, Minister of Defence, to travel to India, on 23rd September 2016, on a visit that was agreed on in principle with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during their meeting on 4th September on the margins of the G20 Summit.

In Singapore for the 15th Shangri-La Dialogue (3 - 5 June 2016), Jean-Yves Le Drian stated, "[…] we stand alongside our main partners in this region of the world: with India, of course, which has been our top strategic partner in Asia since 1997”.